The mission of the University of Michigan Education and Research Center (ERC) is to serve the region, nation, and world as a center of excellence for research and graduate education in Occupational Health and Safety. The Center provides comprehensive professional and research training in Industrial Hygiene (IH), Occupational Health Nursing (OHN), Occupational Safety Engineering and Ergonomics (OSE), Hazardous Substances Academic Training (HSAT), and, Occupational Epidemiology (OE), as well as Pilot Project Research Training. We also have a large, highly respected Continuing Education program that provides short courses to professionals in these and allied disciplines. We have functioned as an ERC since 1982, and have reached a stage of maturity characterized by: 1) outstanding academic productivity and efficiency, 2) a stable, mostly tenured faculty, 3) extensive curricula in all core disciplines, 4) outstanding research productivity and funding in a broad spectrum of OH&S areas, 5) excellent institutional support from the University of Michigan, and 6) a large number of alumni who are leaders in their fields. The Occupational Health Nursing Program graduates and students have contributed to the enhancement of OH services in the United States and abroad. Program graduates are employed in hospital-based OH clinics, public and private industry, organizations providing services to businesses, their own businesses, and colleges/universities. This program is the only graduate OHN degree program in Michigan and is one of a few national programs offering doctoral research training in the OHN field. The overall strength of the School of Nursing and ERC resources, available through collaborating UM schools, make the UM environment optimal for the preparation of OHNs to meet regional and national needs for OHN graduate preparation. RELEVANCE: Funding for the Occupational Health Nursing Program will support the training of occupational health nurse professionals who play a key role in reducing workplace illness and injuries, a major cause of disability in the U.S. population.